1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an airbag device for a front passenger seat mountable on an instrument panel in front of a front passenger seat and provided with an airbag which is stored in a housing disposed inside the instrument panel in a folded-up configuration.
2. Description of Related Art
JP H06-72276 A discloses a known airbag device which is mountable on a vehicle having a center-front seat in addition to a right-front seat. The airbag of the airbag device is stored inside the instrument panel in front of the right-front seat in a folded-up configuration and is configured to be deployed not only towards the right-front seat but also towards the driver's seat for covering an area spanning the front of the right-front seat and the front of the center-front seat.
However, since the above airbag is formed into one bag having a sufficient width in a left and right direction for protecting both a right-front seat passenger and a center-front seat passenger, it has a big volume and will require a high-power inflator, and such a big airbag is likely to make a whole airbag device bulky. Therefore, the above airbag device has a room for improvement in the light of reduction of manufacturing cost, and compact and lightweight design.
US 2015/0258958 A discloses an airbag device for a front passenger seat provided with an airbag which includes a main bag section deployable in front of the front passenger seat and a center bag section which is disposed on a side of the main bag section facing towards the driver's seat and deployable in such a manner as to protrude partially towards the driver's seat.
In the above airbag, although the center bag section has an independent bag construction separated from the main bag section, it is jointed with the main bag section only at a periphery of a communication hole which provides gas communication between the main bag section and the center bag section. This configuration is not simple, and moreover, may cause an undesirable scenario that the center bag section fails to be supported by the main bag section smoothly and fails to protect a passenger adequately at airbag deployment. In order to catch the passenger smoothly, the center bag section will need to be increased in volume, but this is not preferable, either.